Study Shows Pigeons, Like Humans, Enjoy Gambling

Poker has its share of sharks, fish, and whales, but when it comes down to it, gamblers might all be pigeons. A recent study by the University of Kentucky showed that pigeons enjoy gambling for food, taking luck-based chances even when they don’t lower returns than a steady stream of food.

According to the study, published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in the United Kingdom, pigeons were given two lights they could peck at in order to receive food. If they pecked on the light to the right, it would turn either yellow or blue, and they would receive three pellets of food each time.

However, the pigeons had the opportunity to pass up the sure thing, and gamble on the light to the left. If they pecked at the light, it would either turn red or green. A red light resulted in 10 pellets, while the green light meant they received nothing. However, there was only a 20% chance of getting a red light on any given peck, so on average, the pigeons received only two pellets per peck, compared to the sure three on the right.

Despite this, most pigeons chose the light on the left, gambling in the hopes of getting a relative pellet feast.

"It's more efficient not to gamble, and the likelihood of winning is low, but pigeons do it anyway," said Thomas Zentall, lead author of the study. "And so do people."

The study also tried to determine what separated the pigeons that chose to gamble from those who took the steady (and higher) returns. It appeared that pigeons that were bored or didn’t socialize with other pigeons were more likely to gamble.

“Most of the time, people who aren't terribly happy with what they're doing choose to gamble because it's exciting to them and other things generally aren't," Zentall said.

For serious gamblers, of course, the ability to do math would likely separate them from Zentall’s experimental pigeons. Essentially, the pigeons were “wagering” the three pellets they were guaranteed for a 20% chance of winning ten pellets. This results in a game with a house edge of 33%, more similar to a state lottery than games like blackjack or craps, which have house edges of less than 2%.